About the Team

A group of highly motivated MIT students, the lure of winning big money, and a unique blackjack training system. What began as intellectual curiosity eventually became an extremely lucrative enterprise for a select group of MIT students. It all began at MIT in 1958 with a professor named Edward Thorp. Thorp's brilliant intuition led him to believe it was possible to beat the game of blackjack. After months of analysis and countless computer simulations, Thorp formulated a strategy by which players could actually gain the advantage over the house - card counting. In 1962, Thorp revealed card counting to the world when he published Beat the Dealer. As word spread that the game of 21 could be beat, people began to flock to the blackjack tables in hopes of making their fortunes, and soon blackjack became the number one table game that it is today.

In the summer of 1994, more than thirty years after Beat the Dealer was published, a group of MIT students was secretly recruited to put blackjack theory and newly developed training methods to the test. Combining the knowledge and wisdom from past experience with a new training approach, this ingenious group of MIT students set out to conquer Vegas. That marked the beginning of the legendary run of the MIT Blackjack Team. The team would go on to win millions and take blackjack to extraordinary heights. The exploits of this infamous blackjack team are chronicled in Ben Mezrich's best selling book, Bringing Down the House, which is the basis for the major motion picture, 21. The leaders of the MIT Blackjack Team have founded the Blackjack Institute, and are now making their winning system available to the public.

Mike Aponte is co-founder of the Blackjack Institute and one of the main characters, Jason Fisher, in the bestselling book, Bringing Down the House. Mike's infamous blackjack career began in 1992 when he was a student at MIT. Mike developed into one of the team's top "Big Players" and money winners. He was also one of the team's managers, contributing significantly, both in and out of casinos, to the team's incredible success. In 2004, Mike won the championship in the first ever World Series of Blackjack. You can learn more about Mike on his blog.

Dave Irvine is co-founder of the Blackjack Institute and a member of the MIT Blackjack Team. As an undergraduate at MIT, Dave was recruited by Mike and refined his blackjack skills playing in casinos all over the country. Dave has earned a masters degree in biological engineering from Cornell and an MBA from Purdue University's Krannert School of Management. Dave also owns a successful engineering consulting company.